Rich Rod calls out Danny Hope

Don't know if anyone is watching Rich Rod's press conference, but he's really bitching about Danny Hope. Apparently he brought over the offensive lineman who was previously suspended earlier in the season, and accused RR of sending the tape to the Big Ten to cause it. RR was pissed, and basically said it was a complete bush league thing to do by Hope. Weirdest fucking portion of a press conference I've ever seen.

I mean, I guess it's weird, but it's no weirder than the fact that Hope, after a big win, chose to do that. I'm glad that he brought it up. Hope is the biggest classless douchebag alive, apparently. Although, he's shown signs of it in the past and drops more F bombs on the sidelines than any coach I've ever seen.

Completely out of line by Danny Hope. As a coach you shake the other coaches hand, say good game and walk away. This looked like it was something that was planned far in advance. Hope just looked like an outright douche. This was the most absurd post-game handshake that I have ever witnessed, and I've been watching Jets coaches shake Bill Belichick's hand after games for years.

and this isn't some troll randomly coming on this site. i've read it closely for close to two years and i've had enough. this isn't the Michigan team i've been a fan of since i started watching college ftball. we are the worst team in the worst bcs conference. it's time all of us realize this.

with sore losers that are too impatient to see the big picture. RR is an Offensive Coach!! I fully understand that he is charged with the duty of hiring assistants. So if we are blaming him for the Schafer hire, fine! If we are pissed about Hopson, fine! But he's not the DC . Asking for his head for our defensive woes is like Florida State fans thinking firing Bowden is their fix-all. Our problem is defensive, and the bottom line is that GERG is in his first season as DC. I would have loved to have had him last year rather than Schafer, but such wasn't the case. RR had a rough year offensively in '08 (averaging 20 pts a game) while being supported by an un-coached Defense. Now '09 is a different story with a serviceable QB we are averaging 32 pts a game and finding out why RR is one of the best offensive minds in the game. Calling for Weis' head is understandable bc he's an offensive guy who couldn't put points on the board (until this season) with ridiculously high talent. If RR can turn the offense around in his second year, you have to believe GERG(with his credentials) can do it in his. We are recruiting hard on the defensive side of the ball. Just give the plan time. Don't go selling the stock when all the signs point to buy buy buy. It's hard enough to develop a program whose talent pool was left bone dry by those before you. We need to accept the cycle of life, and feel good knowing that when these sophomores and freshmen are seniors we didn't jump ship on them or their coach when the going got tough.

I disagree, but not for the reason you might suspect. I think that if you want to call out a d-bag, you call him out, but you do it unapologetically. He was too sheepish about it, which is his style, unfortunately. If you're gonna call someone out, you do so with confidence. If he wanted to bring it up, he should have let Hope have it. Not as an excuse, not as sour grapes, but with confidence that you're right and he's an idiot.

both were idiotic - the Hope stunt and RR's low attempt to get back at Hope by airing it at the press conference. There are better ways to make it known than at a post-game presser. I am afraid our coach is now losing it, living in his own bubble, which would explain some of the stubborn play calling.

Very few of us have seen (or will see) this whole sequence. What the jackasses in the national media (read: ESPN and ABC, for the most part) are going to get a hold of is the tape of the press conference and hammer on Rich's ass some more, and rip on him due to the fact that Michigan struggled since the day he walked in the door and that this is just more whining and deflecting after another loss.

Agree or disagree, right or wrong, this is what is likely coming. A positive and a negative may cancel each other out, but two stupids don't make a smart.

Rich does not have the scoreboard on his side. That's what is going to make this look so bad at this time. I don't like to say things like this, but the perception is not good on our end at all right now. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear that I am not.

But having scoreboard on your side does not determine right and wrong. I don't think what he did was wrong. I wasn't 100% happy with his presentation - it could have been better - but I have no problem with him bringing it up. It's the most classless post-game move I've seen by an opposing head coach. It was premeditated and pathetic. If you're Purdue, that's your program, and I wouldn't feel very good about it. As for your previous comments about ESPN/ABC, I get what you're saying, but I really don't give a shit about how they skewer him. I don't actually think it will play out like you imagine, but even if it did, I really don't care. I'm just not big on "OMG, we look really bad because ESPN says this" type stuff. I know what happened and how it was handled, and I'm not going to be swayed by some b.s. drive-by media fallout. It just doesn't matter.

...cause for the last two weeks he's gotten out-coached at half time. I love this program and I will never ever turn my back on Michigan but my heart is breaking for these kids. Some need to step it up and others are at the mercy of the coaches. As a leader of the team RR needs to keep his cool and his head about him and be a leader.

I iniitially thought "WTF, that's kind of petty and insignificant" for RR to mention that at the presser.

After seeing the video of the actual exchange, not so much.

It's really, really bad. Hope shoots to the top of my list of douchiest coaches after that. What a classless piece of shit, to go up to RR and do that in the post game handshake. That's a moment for sportsmanship, not a douchy expression of a grudge. You can tell just from his body language what a shitbag that Hope is.... The fact that RR had just lost a close game and then Hope pulls that shit just adds insult to injury.

Re. the presser, RR was emotional already, and someone *asked* him about it! RR probably wouldn't have brought it up on his own, but he was responding to a question... he was emotional from the loss, and people here turn around and interpret that as RR whining about Danny hope. Un-fuckin-believable. No matter what RR does, people find something wrong with it.

"Re. the presser, RR was emotional already, and someone *asked* him about it! RR probably wouldn't have brought it up on his own, but he was responding to a question... he was emotional from the loss, and people here turn around and interpret that as RR whining about Danny hope."

he actually did bring it up. he was talking about how frustrating the game was:

"its frustrating we know we can play better...moments...we're beating ourselves. you have to give them credit. purdue did a nice job.....i was a little disappointed after the game etc etc"

so yeah, rr brought it up on his OWN then was ASKED about it afterwards.

Yep, you're right. I stand corrected. I hadn't remembered him binging it up and thought the follow up question was a question by the reporter, which initiated that topic.

I agree the timing for that is kind of weird.

But, what Hope did was absolutely shitty and a disgrace to the coaching profession. Frankly, he should be called out on it and I don't necessarily have a problem w/ RR doing so. Plus, RR was likely pissed about it, and rightfully so, and acted off that and brought it up in the presser.

That probably was not the best thing to do, for the sake of appearances if nothing else because a lot of people will react to that and say it's a petty tit-for-tat thing.

I don't know him personally, but RR strikes me as a genuinely good man that is not just trying to win at all costs but genuinely cares about the kids in his program. To a coach coming from that mindset, Hope's actions are especially egregious. I mean, what sort of example does that set for the kid that Hope brought up to RR, that was suspended? What sort of lesson does Hope teach that kid there?

RR was no doubt very upset about the loss, *and* about that and in the midst of that made what was probably at the time - and almost definitely in hindsight - a poor decision to address it like that, in that venue. Rodriguez is an emotional guy, he wears his heart on his sleeve to an extent. That's part of what makes him such a good - and such an impassioned - coach.

In that situation, it's probably best to not bring it up at that point and move on, but, I don't think that it's that huge of a deal. What Hope did was digusting, an affront to sportsmanship and the coaching profession, and needed to be called out by someone at some point. RR, being no doubt pissed at the time, did it.

Once again, probably not ideal, but also I don't think cause for concern and DEFINITELY not a reason to compare him to Weis, which a couple posters have done. What Weis does is whiny bitching. What RR did is called out one of his peers for betraying one of the ideals of their profession. Nowhere near the same thing.

My point is that this is not good for the perception of the Michigan program. If we're 7-3 right now and we just polished off Purdue 38-24, this would look about 1000% better than it's going to now. Instead now it's more fuel to add to the national media's fire, and they like building fires. The "build you up to tear you down" concept, if you will.

This whole thing bothers me a helluva lot less than the fact that we're staring 5-7 squarely in the face, but that's another discussion for another thread.

I hope that RR and the team remember how much people enjoyed disrespecting and dumping on them while they were down, and start pounding on people mercilessly once we get all of the pieces in place. I still think it can be done, but it sure is a painful transition.

Even the most pessimistic person in the world, who thinks Rich Rod is going to major FAIL, can't believe Michigan is going to be bad for all time. Now, if's it's a new coach, how much he cares about Danny Hope may vary...but Michigan will be back. It's just a matter of how long.

than Michigan under Rich Rod hanging 70 on Purdue and Danny Hope. Also, who the fuck uses the name "Danny" when you're Hope's age. VERY high addition to the douchebag factor. I didn't think it was possible, but Hope makes Rich Rod sound like a Harvard professor in terms of speaking mannerisms. And believe me, like Brian, Rich Rod's speaking tone and mannerisms drive me fucking insane.

If that's really what happened (I saw the piece of tape and it looked like the player went up to RR by himself, but then I wasn't watching closely), WHAT A SUPER DUPER DICK MOVE. He should be fined. I was liking Purdue because they stuck it to Ohio State. No more.

Sometimes you end up looking inferior to a classless person when you take the time to point it out. We just lost at home to Purdue for the first time in over 40 years, played particularly poorly, got indisputably outcoached at several very key points of the game. Even though Hope was out of line, in RR's position, you let it go and move on. Why throw more gas on the fire?

I really didn't like RichRod bringing this up in the presser. If it's Lloyd, he talks to his assistants about this, no one else, and he whoops their butts the next time around. RichRod makes a huge deal out of it and makes us again look like we're in the middle of a mud-slinging contest in the national media.

I am a Purdue student and die hard fan, but this was shady. Hope was really winning me over as the season progressed, but this is just a really dumb and classless move. I looked at the hit the player gave to the guy on NIU (which caused the one game suspension), and the he clearly deserved to be punished for it. A one game suspension is no big deal.

Summary: As a Purdue student and fan, this was just shady. Danny Hope was classless on this one. Just wanted you to know what the other teams fans feel I guess. Once again, a great game though and hope you guys can take down ohio state too because they are bigger douches than Danny Hope (maybe lol)